Monday, August 24, 1998 Last modified at 12:20 a.m. on Monday, August 24, 1998

Hill Country floods kill four as rivers overflow

Associated Press

At least four Mexican immigrants, including two toddlers, drowned Sunday in the Texas Hill Country when a pickup packed with 18 people was swept away by flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Charley.

The incident occurred at 7:30 a.m. on State Highway 41 in Real County, about 100 miles northwest of San Antonio, when the driver tried to ford a stream crossing filled with 4 feet of water, authorities said.

Seven people climbed out of the truck before it entered the water and was immediately swept away. Six others were able to swim to safety, and one person ? the driver ? remained missing Sunday, said Tela Mange of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Three of the four victims were found inside the cab of the truck. The fourth was located about a quarter-mile from the vehicle.

The victims were identified as Veronica Gomez Hernandez, 20; Liliana Arroyo, 16; Jose Angel Diaz, 2; and Jasmine Diaz, 3. Ms. Mange said all were from Mexico, but she did not know where.

The toddlers were believed to be brother and sister, but authorities had no information about their parents.

All across Central and South Texas, riverbeds overflowed into low-lying areas as showers left over from Charley moved west across the state, prompting street closures and some evacuations.

Firefighters in Uvalde County rescued a woman and her 1-year-old child after they were swept from a vehicle by high water. Neither was injured.

''All the river's are out of their banks,'' said Chris Steinbruck, a dispatcher for the Uvalde Police Department. ''This is disastrous. It's just unbelievable.''